What would happen if you didn’t sleep? - Claudia Aguirre

翻译人员: zhen you 校对人员: Yunjung Nam

In 1965, 17-year-old high school student, Randy Gardner

在1965年， 17岁的高中学生Randy Gardner

stayed awake for 264 hours.

维持了264小时的清醒状态。

累计11天，来看看 他是怎么保持清醒的。

That's 11 days to see how he'd cope without sleep.

On the second day, his eyes stopped focusing.

第二天，他的眼睛已经无法聚焦了，

Next, he lost the ability to identify objects by touch.

然后，他失去了依靠触摸 来辨别物体的能力。

By day three, Gardner was moody and uncoordinated.

第三天，Gardner变得喜怒无常， 动作也无法协调。

At the end of the experiment, he was struggling to concentrate,

在实验结束的时候， 保持专注对他来说十分艰难

had trouble with short-term memory,

短期记忆出现了问题

became paranoid,

变的易怒，

and started hallucinating.

而且出现了幻觉。

Although Gardner recovered without long-term psychological

尽管Gardner痊愈了，

没有长期的生理或心理的后遗症，

or physical damage,

for others, losing shuteye can result in hormonal imbalance,

对于其他人来说

失去睡眠可以导致荷尔蒙失衡，

illness,

生病，

and, in extreme cases, death.

在极端情况下，死亡。

We're only beginning to understand why we sleep to begin with,

我们刚刚才开始明白我们为什么要睡觉，

但是我们知道睡眠是至关重要的。

but we do know it's essential.

Adults need seven to eight hours of sleep a night,

成人每晚需要7到8小时的睡眠，

and adolescents need about ten.

青少年大概需要10小时。

We grow sleepy due to signals from our body

我们变困是因为身体发出暗示

telling our brain we are tired,

告诉我们的大脑，“我们累了”

and signals from the environment telling us it's dark outside.

环境中的信号告诉我们，外面天黑了。

The rise in sleep-inducing chemicals,

嗜睡化学成分的上升，

like adenosine and melatonin,

比如腺苷和褪黑素，

send us into a light doze that grows deeper,

使我们进入浅睡眠，并越睡越深，

making our breathing and heart rate slow down

使我们的呼吸和心跳变缓，

and our muscles relax.

肌肉变放松。

DNA在这段非快速眼动 睡眠期被修复，

This non-REM sleep is when DNA is repaired

and our bodies replenish themselves for the day ahead.

我们的身体也补充能量 以准备迎接新的一天。

In the United States,

在美国，

大概30%的成人和66%的青少年

it's estimated that 30% of adults and 66% of adolescents

are regularly sleep-deprived.

经常缺少睡眠。

This isn't just a minor inconvenience.

这并不只是个小小的不便

Staying awake can cause serious bodily harm.

长期保持清醒会对身体 产生巨大的伤害。

When we lose sleep,

当我们失去睡眠的时候

learning,

学习，

memory,

mood,

记忆

情绪

and reaction time are affected.

和反应时间会受到影响。

Sleeplessness may also cause inflammation,

失眠还可能会导致发炎

halluciations,

幻觉，

high blood pressure,

高血压，

and it's even been linked to diabetes and obesity.

甚至和高血糖和肥胖产生联系。

In 2014, a devoted soccer fan died

在2014年,

一个铁杆球迷因为 连续48小时观看世界杯而死亡。

after staying awake for 48 hours to watch the World Cup.

While his untimely death was due to a stroke,

虽然他是因为中风而“英年早逝”，

studies show that chronically sleeping fewer than six hours a night

研究表明，长期维持每日少于 六小时的睡眠，

increases stroke risk by four and half times

相对于那些保持 每晚7到8小时睡眠的人来说

compared to those getting a consistent seven to eight hours of shuteye.

增加了4.5倍的中风风险。

For a handful of people on the planet who carry a rare inherited genetic mutation,

对于那些世上少数的， 通过遗传得到基因异变的人来说，

sleeplessness is a daily reality.

失眠是家常便饭

This condition, known as Fatal Familial Insomnia,

这种症状，被称为致死性家族失眠症 （Fatal Familial Insomnia）

places the body in a nightmarish state of wakefulness,

将身体置于一种噩梦般的清醒状态

防止患者进入睡眠这个庇护所。

forbidding it from entering the sanctuary of sleep.

Within months or years,

在几个月到几年内，

this progressively worsening condition leads to dementia and death.

这种逐渐恶化到病情 会导致痴呆和死亡。

How can sleep deprivation cause such immense suffering?

失眠是如何导致如此严重的痛苦的？

科学家们认为答案是 代谢物在大脑中的累积。

Scientists think the answer lies with the accumulation of waste prducts

in the brain.

During our waking hours,

在清醒的时候，

our cells are busy using up our day's energy sources,

我们的细胞紧张的消耗一天的能量，

which get broken down into various byproducts,

分解成各种副产品，

including adenosine.

包括腺苷。

As adenosine builds up,

当腺苷累积起来的时候，

it increases the urge to sleep, also known as sleep pressure.

它增加了困倦感， 也就是睡眠压力。

In fact, caffeine works by blocking adenosine's receptor pathways.

事实上，咖啡因是靠阻断接受 腺苷的感知器官来实现其作用的。

Other waste products also build up in the brain,

其他的代谢物也会积聚于大脑，

and if they're not cleared away, they collectively overload the brain

如果不清理出去，

它们会导致大脑和思想超负荷运转，

and are thought to lead to the many negative symptoms of sleep deprivation.

并导致各种失眠症状。

那我们睡觉的时候, 大脑是如何防止这些发生的呢？

So, what's happening in our brain when we sleep to prevent this?

Scientists found something called the glymphatic system,

科学家们发现了一种叫glymphatic system 的脑部淋巴系统，

a clean-up mechanism that removes this buildup

一种能清除这些积聚物的清扫系统，

and is much more active when we're asleep.

当我们睡觉的时候，这个系统更加活跃。

It works by using cerebrospinal fluid to flush away toxic byproducts

它利用脑脊液来清除 在细胞之间的有毒物质。

that accumulate between cells.

Lymphatic vessels, which serve as pathways for immune cells,

淋巴管，为免疫细胞提供路径的血管

have recently been discovered in the brain,

最近被发现存在于大脑中，

and they may also play a role in clearing out the brain's daily waste products.

淋巴管也可能在清除大脑 日常代谢物中扮演了重要的角色。

While scientists continue exploring the restorative mechanisms behind sleep,

虽然科学家们还在继续 探索关于睡眠的修复机制，

we can be sure that slipping into slumber is a necessity

我们可以肯定， 想要保持健和理智，打瞌睡是必需的！

if we want to maintain our health and our sanity.